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Prominent keynote speakers confirmed

AES is delighted to announce that four prominent keynote speakers have already confirmed their attendance.

Professor Jean King

Professor Jean King, is a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy and Development from the University of Minnesota. Professor King also serves as Director of the Minnesota Evaluation Studies Institute (MESI) and coordinates the all-university Program Evaluation minor.

Jean is a sought-after presenter and long-time writer on evaluation topics, she led the team that developed the Essential Competencies for Program Evaluators and has been awarded the Myrdal Award for Evaluation Practice and the Ingle Award for Extraordinary Service from the American Evaluation Association, three teaching awards, and three community service awards.

She is currently leading the evaluation team for the National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education in the Academic Health Center at the University of Minnesota.

Professor Per Mickwitz

Professor Mickwitz works as the Research Director of the Finnish Environment Institute, a governmental research institute. He has studied and published extensively, on the theory and practices of environmental policy evaluation for reflexive governance, focusing largely on methodological issues and the use of evaluations in political processes.

Shifting his research focus to energy and climate policy issues Professor Mickwitz has explored issues related to stability and change in energy systems and the role of innovation and climate policies for these processes.

At present he is concerned about how evaluations could better support transitions toward sustainability. Recently two special issues co-edited by him have been published: in 2009 'Environmental Program and Policy Evaluation: Addressing Methodological Challenges' in New Directions for Evaluation and in 2011 'Promoting Transformation towards Sustainable Consumption and Production in a Resource and Energy Intensive Economy – the Case of Finland' in the Journal of Cleaner Production. Additional information is available here.

Assistant Professor Peter Mataira

Peter Mataira is from Aotearoa New Zealand and is of Maori descent. His tribal affiliations are to Ngatiporou and Kahungunu on the East Coast of the North Island. Dr. Mataira’s doctoral research focused on Maori entrepreneurial leadership and the challenges of balancing competing demands of intersecting tribal social obligation, ethical practice and enterprise profitability.

Dr. Mataira has extensive community mental health and clinical social work experience and teaches courses in community practice, human behavior and the social environment and knowledge development. He also lectures in areas of indigenous evaluation research, social entrepreneurship and international social policy.

Dr. Mataira is currently an Assistant Professor and the Director of Indigenous Affairs at the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work, University of Hawaii and undertakes culturally-based evaluation projects in Hawai’i. He works also with Native American, Alaskan Native and First Nations evaluators. Dr. Mataira serves as a accreditation monitor to social work programs in Aotearoa New Zealand, consults regularly in areas of non-profit/non government social enterprise building and does pro bono work helping community groups write their business plans.

Professor Steven Larkin

Professor Steven Larkin is a Kungarakany man from Darwin in the Northern Territory. Steve is currently the Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Leadership and Director ACIKE at Charles Darwin University (CDU). CDU has committed itself to becoming a leader amongst Australian universities in relation to Indigenous participation and relevance in its Strategic Plan, and by implication, significantly contributes to the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of Indigenous people and communities in the Northern Territory and beyond. As Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Leadership Steve oversees a program of positive reform through the establishment of structures, processes and relationships within CDU to provide a framework to incorporate Indigenous perspectives into all aspects of the University now and into the future.

Before this Steve has significant experience working in urban, rural and remote Aboriginal communities in health and community development programs with the NT Government Steve undertook a number of leadership roles most notably as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer for the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), as an Assistant Secretary in the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH) and as manager of the National Indigenous Employment program for a brief period before transferring to the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies as Deputy Principal and later as Principal (CEO) of the Institute.

He is currently a member of the Board with Beyond Blue, a member of the Child Deaths Review Committee (NT), a member of the Indigenous Road Injury Project Advisory Committee and is the incoming Chair for the Expert Reference Group for the Sexual Assault Referral Centre Mobile Outreach Service in the NT. In 2008, Steve was inducted into the National Indigenous Sports Hall of Fame for his contribution to field hockey.